Computerised mobile-stop bench vice for reinforcing iron bar bending machine

ABSTRACT

The truck is in the form of a bed fitted with a wagon ( 20 ) which includes, cantilever, and a stop system ( 11 ).  
     Such stop system ( 11 ) is arranged at the end of an arm ( 26 ) whereof the length is such that it enables said stop system to be positioned on the cambering machine.  
     The stop system ( 11 ), either mechanical or optical, enables to supply to the operator either a stop in the form of a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bed, or in the form of an axis perpendicular to said bed, on said longitudinal axis.  
     The operator has a workstation by means of which he may profile the bars either according to a preset algorithm or, after a learning cycle, recorded to the cycle recorded.

[0001] This invention concerns a truck for machine-tool and in particular for a conventional manual cambering machine used in the field of preparation of concrete armourings.

[0002] Profiling armourings, i.e. bar forming reinforcements for concrete is part of the technical fields which require either high qualification from the operators, or very sophisticated machinery.

[0003] Experimented operators become fewer and fewer and, besides, the sophisticated machines which might solve the above problem are not suitable in all cases and notably for large diameter steels conditioned exclusively into bars.

[0004] This invention offers means which enable to guide an operator to perform on a conventional manual machine, and more easily, the various operations associated with the profiling of a bar.

[0005] The invention enables in fact to use current manual cambering machines and especially very basic cambering machines, i.e. machines that are encountered on any building site and in armouring preparation plants. Moreover, no more intervention and no more modification of the cambering machine properly speaking is necessary; it is still used as such, with its traditional accessories.

[0006] The invention suggests a truck which is fitted with a computer-controlled stop; which truck includes an arm or bracket acting as a support for a stop, which arm extends cantilever from a wagon which is mobile on the bed of said truck, which arm positions said stop, when the wagon is at the end of its travel, by the cambering machine, at a certain distance from the end of said bed, which distance corresponds substantially to the distance between the axis of the central chuck of said cambering machine and the side whereon is placed said truck.

[0007] The truck is therefore simply juxtaposed to the cambering machine, fixed to the ground by any appropriate means, to avoid any unwanted movement.

[0008] The stop of the truck is laid out in order to provide at least two types of reference: a reference in the form of a simple plane, which plane is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bed of the truck and a reference in the form of an axis perpendicular to the bed, centred on said longitudinal axis.

[0009] According to another embodiment of the invention, the stop is a physical stop composed on the one hand, of a stop in the form of a plate integral with the supporting arm by means of a horizontal transversal hinge pin which enables to put said plate either into active position in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the truck, or into inactive position and, on the other hand, of a gauge rod carried for instance by said plate, which is perpendicular to the latter and whereof the axis is situated, in active position, in the same reference plane as that of said plate.

[0010] Still according to the invention, the gauge rod is preferably composed of an elastic member in the form of a rectilinear spring with tight spires, to sustain the strokes and the shocks without altering or upsetting its position.

[0011] According to another embodiment of the invention, the gauge rod is associated with the plate and the latter includes, on its rear section, a cap fitted with a hinge pin, which axis is guided in ports laid out in a structure in the form of a frame, provided at the end of the arm support, which ports enable on the one hand, said plate to be tilted into inactive position and, on the other hand, said plate to be moved towards the wagon, guided by said ports, enabling to lock said plate relative to the supporting arm in its inactive position, which gauge rod is fixed on said plate in the centre of the latter and is then situated in active position.

[0012] According to an embodiment variation, the stop is an optic stop comprising a light beam obtained by a laser for example, which confers to said beam a flat shape perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the truck or a rectilinear shape perpendicular to the bed running through said longitudinal axis.

[0013] Still according to the invention, the truck is in the form of a bed fitted laterally with means in the form of rails to guide the wagon carrying the stop, which wagon is mobile by means of a stepping servomotor, driven for instance by means of a synchronous belt integral with said wagon, which truck is associated with a workstation which is connected on the one hand, to the motor and, on the other hand, to the cambering machine, which workstation comprises a screen, an industrial keyboard and a barcode reading device, which station may accommodate a network connection or a serial link for downloading data regarding the bar(s) to be cambered.

[0014] According to another embodiment of the invention, the workstation of the truck is connected to a pedal-type member, which enables the operator, via the computer of said workstation, to validate operations associated with a cambering cycle.

[0015] The invention also relates to a control method of the stop provided on the truck detailed above, which method consists - in reading the encoded label fixed to the bar to be cambered,—in controlling said stop according to a preset algorithm, which enables maximisation of the operating cycle for cambering the bar in question.

[0016] According to a variation, the control method of the stop provided on the truck consists:—in reading the encoded label fixed to the bar to be cambered,—in having said stop controlled according to a set cycle, continuously by the operator, according to the information regarding the bar as for instance its diameter and its length and the information regarding the operations to be performed (shape of the cambering, sizes of the part),—in recording the learning operating cycle performed by the operator.

[0017] According to another embodiment of the invention, the control method of the stop consists in reading the encoded label fixed to the bar to be cambered and, for a repetitious cambering operation, of one or several identical bars, the method consists in performing again the steps of the recorded method forming a learning cycle, then in reproducing the recorded cycle for profiling the bar(s) in question.

[0018] The invention will be again detailed using the following description and the appended drawings, given by way of example and wherein:

[0019]FIG. 1 represents schematically the constituents of the invention associated with a conventional cambering machine, i.e. a truck and a workstation;

[0020]FIG. 2 represents, individually, the multi-reference stop of the truck; FIGS. 3 and 4 represent an embodiment variation of the multi-reference stop;

[0021]FIG. 5 is a side view of the mechanical stop;

[0022]FIG. 6 is a top view of FIG. 5;

[0023]FIG. 7 is a side view showing the stop in the form of a plate in inactive position whereas the spring-shaped stop is in active position;

[0024]FIG. 8 is a view from below of FIG. 7;

[0025]FIG. 9 is a rear perspective view, of the stop properly speaking;

[0026]FIG. 10 is also a perspective view of the support of the stop.

[0027]FIG. 1 shows, schematically, a cambering machine 1 of the manual type used for profiling concrete armourings 2. Such armourings are held in a chuck 3 of the cambering machine, and rest on a stop 4 for example.

[0028] The concrete armouring 2 is generally fitted with a label 5 whereon the operator may find by means of an appropriate unit such as the workstation 6, all the information regarding the tasks to be conducted on the bar in question.

[0029] By means of a reader 7 associated with the workstation 6, the operator may read the codes carried on the label 5, either simple barcodes or 2D-barcodes, in order to display on the screen 8 all the information necessary to enable said operator to perform the cambering correctly.

[0030] The workstation 6 may also include a connection or a link 9 with the network or other for downloading data regarding the bars to be cambered, in relation to the information carried on the label 5.

[0031] The cambering machine 1 and the workstation 6 are completed by a truck 10 which enables thanks to a stop system 11, to improve the working conditions of the operator and especially to facilitate his task by providing him with a mark in the form of a stop to position the bar 2 correctly with respect to the chuck 3 of the cambering machine.

[0032] The particularity of the truck 10 lies in having a stop system 11 which may be placed as close as possible to the chuck 3 of the cambering machine 1, to provide all the necessary help to the operator according to the instructions given to him at the workstation.

[0033] Such truck 10 is composed of a horizontal bed 12 carried by supporting feet 13 arranged at each of its ends, for instance. Such bed 10 has a length of the order of 6 m for instance or more, according to the sizes of the bars to be cambered.

[0034] The height of the bed 12 is adjustable by means of jacks 14 to be placed at the same level as the bed 15 of the cambering machine 1. One may note the presence of several rolls 16, arranged transversally on the bed 12, for easier displacement of the bars 2 when they extend on said bed.

[0035] The truck 10 is juxtaposed to the cambering machine 1, without being fixed to said machine. Thus, the ends of the feet 13 are in the form of cups, which cups 17 are anchored solidly to the ground to prevent any displacement of the truck.

[0036] The bed 12 includes, laterally, means for guiding a wagon 20 which is mobile over the whole length of the bed, under the action of an electric motor 21 arranged below said bed; the wagon 20 is driven by the motor by means of a non-visible belt which is integral with said wagon. The motor 21 is a stepping servomotor, operating on low voltage, and the belt is a conventional synchronous belt.

[0037] The wagon 20 is guided by means of rollers 22, on lateral rails 23 arranged on either side of the bed. Such wagon 20 forms a kind of bridge above the bed 12 and includes, on its upper section, a structure in the form of a cap 25 enabling to fix a rectilinear arm 26 or bracket, at the end of which is situated the stop system 11 and in particular the stop properly speaking 27.

[0038] On FIG. 1, the stop 27 is in the form of a rectangular plate. It can be noted that such stop 27 may be placed in the space available of the cambering machine 1 on the bed 15, to suit requirements.

[0039] Also, the arm 26 carried by the wagon 20, has a length which enables, when the wagon 20 is at the end of its travel, by the cambering machine 1, to put the stop system 11 close to the chuck 3 and possibly on the axis of said chuck.

[0040] The cantilever of the stop system 11 with respect to the truck, corresponds therefore to the distance between the axis of the chuck 3 and the rim of the bed 15 of the cambering machine, by the truck 10.

[0041] The stop system 11 constitutes a mechanical stop; it comprises either, as represented on FIG. 1, a stop in the form of a plate 27, or as represented on FIG. 2, a stop in the form of a gauge rod 28 which replaces the plate 27 when the latter is in 10 inactive position.

[0042] Such stop system 11 in the form of plate and gauge rod, is mounted oscillating at the end of the arm 26 as detailed below in combination with FIGS. 5 to 10.

[0043] The arm 26 is fixed adjustably in the longitudinal direction, on the cap 25 by means of bolts or others, not represented.

[0044] The stop, in the form of a plate 27, acts as a resting plane for the end of a bar 2 or for a fold already made to such bar. Such stop in the form of a plate 27 is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the truck. The sizes of such stop in the form of a plate are for instance 40 cm in width, 15 cm in height and 8 mm in thickness.

[0045] The stop in the form of a gauge rod 28 enables the operator to locate a single spot 20 on a bar. This gauge rod 28 is preferably composed of an elastic part in the form of a spiral spring with contiguous spires in order to absorb shocks or others. It is fixed to the plate 27 and its height is for instance of 10 cm.

[0046] This stop in the form of a gauge rod enables to position a bar already cambered, having in particular an angle smaller than 90°.

[0047] Thanks to the workstation 6, the operator may, with an appropriate software, and an industrial keyboard 29, record a cambering cycle which he determines himself in relation to the type of bar to be cambered (diameter) and in relation to the shape to give to such bar and to the sizes of such shape. The operator has for instance a pedal 30 which enables him to validate each operation of the cycle and the cycle properly speaking. Such learning cycle enables a fully-fledged operator to prepare directly on site, a user-friendly cambering-assisting programme for manufacturing series of parts.

[0048]FIG. 3 shows an embodiment variation of the stop system 11 which constitutes a non-physical stop, an optical stop. The arm 26 includes at its end a laser-type lighting source 31. Such laser is fitted with means which enable to select either a beam 32 in the 35 form of a plane which is perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bed, or a simple rectilinear beam 33 as represented on FIG. 4, which corresponds to the stop in the form of a gauge rod 28.

[0049]FIG. 5 is a side view of the mechanical stop system 11. It includes the arm 26, the stop in the form of a plate 27 and the stop in the form of a gauge rod 28. Such gauge rod 28 is fixed directly to the plate 27 in a position which corresponds substantially to the centre of the latter. On its back, the plate 27 includes two inserts 35 which form a kind of cap fitted with a pin 36 which co-operates with a structure 37 in the form of a frame, provided at the end of the arm 26. The lateral cheeks 38 of the structure 37 include each port 39 to let through the pin 36. In active position as represented on FIGS. 5 and 6, the plate 27 rests on its front face, on a crossbeam 40 which is provided at the front end and at the lower section of the cheeks 38. In this position, the plate 27 is vertical, i.e. perpendicular to the bed 12 and it is also perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of such bed 12.

[0050] When it is placed en inactive position, as represented on FIG. 7, the plate 27 rests on the top of the cheeks 38 and the pin 36 has travelled the length of the ports 39, from front to back, by the arm 26 and the supporting wagon.

[0051] The cheeks 38 are connected to the rim 26 by means of a crossbeam 43 which is parallel to the crossbeam 40.

[0052] The upper end of the plate 27 includes, by the arm 26, a heel 42 resting on the crossbeam 43. One obtains thus an accurate position of the gauge rod 28 whereof the pin replaces the reference plane of the plate 27 when the latter is inactive.

[0053]FIGS. 9 and 10 show in perspective the detail of mechanical stop system 11 and in particular the plate 27 which includes, extending on its rear face, and in the centre, the gauge rod 28 in the form of a spiral spring. The plate 27 is also fitted on its upper face with flanges 35 which form a cap whereof the pin 36 is guided in the ports 39 laid out on the cheeks 38, which cheeks are fixed by the crossbeam 43 at the end of the arm 26.

[0054] The ports of the cheeks 38 enable the displacement of the pin 36 which extends between the flanges 35, as the plate 27 moves, and in particular when it goes from active position to inactive position and vice versa. Such displacement of the pin 36 enables to put the plate 27 into a locked inactive position and, at the same time, to put the gauge rod 28 in active position. 

1. A truck for machine-tool such as a cambering machine used in the field of the preparation of armourings for concrete, characterised in that it includes an arm (26) acting as a support for a stop system (11), which arm is carried by a wagon (20) which is mobile on the bed (12) of said truck, and it extends cantilever from said wagon in order to position said stop system (11) when the wagon is at the end of its travel by the cambering machine, at a certain distance from the end of said bed which corresponds substantially to the distance between the axis of the central chuck of said cambering machine and the rim of the bed (15) of the latter, on the side where is placed said truck
 2. A truck according to claim 1, characterised in that the stop system (11) is laid out in order to provide at least two types of references: a reference in the form of simple plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the bed (12) of said truck, and a reference in the form of an axis perpendicular to said bed, centred on said longitudinal axis.
 3. A truck according to claim 2, characterised in that the stop system (11) consists of a physical stop composed on the one hand, of a stop in the form of a plate (27) integral with the supporting arm (26) by means of a hinge pin (36), horizontal and transversal, which enables to put said plate either in active position in a plane perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the truck, or in inactive position, and on the other hand, of a stop in the form of gauge rod (28) carried for instance by said plate (27), which gauge rod is perpendicular to the latter and its axis is situated, in active position, in the same reference plane as that of said plate (27).
 4. A truck according to claim 3, characterised in that the stop in the form of gauge rod (28) is composed of an elastic member in the form of a rectilinear spring with tight spires.
 5. A truck according to claim 3, characterised in that the stop in the form of plate (27) includes, on the rear section of the latter, two inserts (35) which form a kind of cap fitted with a hinge pin (36), which axis is guided in ports (39) laid out in a structure (37) in the form of a frame, which is provided at the end of the arm (26), which ports enable to tilt said plate in order to put it into inactive position and to move the latter towards the wagon (20), in order to lock it in inactive position, which inactive position corresponds to the active position of the stop in the form of a gauge rod (28).
 6. A truck according to claim 2, characterised in that the stop system (11) consists of an optic stop (31) situated at the end of the supporting arm (26), which optic stop enables to materialise the reference plane and the reference axis by means of a light beam supplied by a laser for instance.
 7. A truck according to any of the claims 1 to 6, characterised in that it comprises a bed (12) fitted laterally with means in the form of rails (23) to guide the wagon (20) which carries the stop system (11), which wagon is mobile by means of a motorised member (21) and of a driving system with a synchronous belt integral with said wagon, and in that it comprises, associated with said bed, a workstation (6) connected on the one hand to said motorised member (21) and to the cambering machine, which workstation comprises a screen (8), an industrial keyboard and a barcode reading device (7), which workstation also being fitted with means for connection with a network or enabling a serial link for downloading data regarding the bar(s) to be cambered.
 8. A truck according to claim 7, characterised in that it includes a pedal-type member (30), connected to the workstation (6), which member enables to the operator, via the computer of said workstation, to validate operations associated with a cambering cycle.
 9. A control method of a stop system provided on a truck according to any of the claims 7 or 8, characterised in that it consists—in reading the encoded label (5) fixed to the bar (2) to be cambered,—in controlling said stop system according to a preset algorithm which enables maximisation of the operating cycle for cambering the bar in question.
 10. A control method of a stop system (11) provided on a truck according to any of the claims 7 or 8, characterised in that it consists—in reading the encoded label (5) fixed to the bar (2) to be cambered,—in having said stop system controlled by an operator according to the information regarding the bar to be cambered as for instance its diameter, its length and according to the information regarding the operations to be carried out on said bar,—in recording the learning operating cycle conducted by said operator.
 11. A control method of the stop system according to claim 10, characterised in that it consists in reading the encoded label (5) fixed to the bar (2) to be cambered and, for a repetitious cambering operation, in performing again the steps of the method recorded according to the learning cycle and in reproducing said recorded cycle in order to profile the bar(s) in question. 